Moran studied Physics at Imperial College London and worked as a maths and physics teacher before becoming an MP. She has served as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education since 2017, and served as spokesperson for digital, culture, media and sport from 2019 to 2020. She is Britain's first openly pansexual Member of Parliament.

Early life and career

Layla Michelle Moran was born in Hammersmith on 12 September 1982,[1] the elder daughter of diplomat James Moran and Randa Moran, a ChristianPalestinian from Jerusalem.[2][3] Her great-grandfather was the Palestinian writer Wasif Jawhariyyeh, who published extensive memoirs. Moran describes herself as a British-Palestinian.[4] On her upbringing, Moran said "My Palestinian background has made me interested at a global level. Politics was always at the dinner table, it primed me to engage."[5] Moran identifies as a humanist.[6]

Moran contested Oxford West and Abingdon at the 2015 general election, coming second. She was selected for the seat again at the 2017 general election, when she gained the seat from the health minister Nicola Blackwood with 26,256 votes (43.7%) and a majority of 816.[11][14] Moran became the first UK Member of Parliament of Palestinian descent and the first female Liberal Democrat MP from an ethnic minority background.[15] In June 2017, Moran was named as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education, science and young people in the House of Commons.[16] That month she used her maiden speech to call for fair funding in schools, and in July 2017 she spoke out against the closure of all of the Sure Start children's centres in Oxfordshire, which took place earlier in the year.[17][18][19] Also in July 2017, Moran was jeered at for accusing the Conservatives of underfunding a new scheme to provide 30 hours of free childcare for the children of working parents.[20][21] Later that year she was appointed a member of the Public Accounts Committee, responsible for overseeing government expenditures.[22]

Moran and her then boyfriend Richard Davis were arrested and briefly detained after an argument in their hotel room at a 2013 Liberal Democrat Federal Conference over a lost computer cable ended with her slapping him.[28][31] The charges were later dropped. The relationship subsequently ended.[32]

Moran announced in January 2020 that she was in a same-sex relationship with Rosy Cobb, the Liberal Democrats' former head of press, and identifies as pansexual. Cobb was suspended by the party after being accused of forging an email.[33]